


like bitter tangerine

by 1sleepydormouse (AlderBee), AlderBee



Series: saturnine [11]
Category: Archie Comics, Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Protective Boyfriend, seeking comfort, shitty parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 18:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16938330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlderBee/pseuds/1sleepydormouse, https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlderBee/pseuds/AlderBee
Summary: Jughead wouldn’t claim to have a hero complex, but for Betty? He would stand up against every villain in her life if he could.





	like bitter tangerine

Jughead wasn’t sure what it was that drew his attention away from the television screen. When he plays video games, especially an immersive one like this, he had a tendency to tune out everything around him. It was a cause of much headache for his mother, and a weakness that his little sister loved to exploit (after all, it was the best time for the little munchkin to raid his stash of snack foods).

 

It was already pretty late, so chances were that he was the only person awake in the entire house. Even Hotdog was an immovable form at his bedside, snuffling into his own white fur as he dreamed.

 

There wasn’t anything to distract him. No real reason to pull himself away from his current mission.

 

He just so happened to glance at his bedroom window.

 

And spotted a slim hand, flailing in the corner before grasping his window sill. 

 

Zombie attack was the first thought.

 

Then, maybe he was dreaming about playing video games and it was about to get really weird (dreams tended to start mundane before ramping up to the exciting stuff).

 

Did his mom get creative with some weird spices for dinner and it was making him hallucinate?

 

Then came the fuzzy blond crown of Betty Cooper’s head, blue eyes squinting at the window.

 

What the hell.

 

!!!

 

Throwing off his headphones, Jughead made quick work in getting to the window, pulling it open and letting the evening breeze penetrate his warm abode before reaching out to grab at his girlfriend. “Uh, Bets? Maybe I need a heads up if stuff like this is going to become a habit.”

 

Betty threw him a smile before wrapping her arms around his neck, trusting him to drag her the rest of the way in. “And let our relationship be plain ol’ vanilla? Someone has to keep the excitement up.”

 

“Geeze, sunshine, you are freezing.” Jughead frowned at the small tremors traveling down her limbs, rubbing her arms, trying to generate some friction to warm her up. “You do know it’s almost winter right? How about dressing for the occasion?”

 

He threw a disdainful look at her thin pajamas covered in a hoodie and jean jacket before pulling at the top-most layer. “Take this off and let me grab you something that hasn’t spent the last hour in the cold night air.”

 

“Thanks,” she whispered gratefully, dropping the jacket on the ground by their feet before making a dive for Jughead’s bed. Careful not to tip over his game controller or the bowl of popcorn near the foot of the bed, she snuggled into the pleasantly warm twin bed, half curling into the warm spot that he had just vacated.

 

After a quick raid of his closet, Jughead came back out with a thick robe he received for Christmas last year. He never bothered to use it, so it was still wrapped around the stiff cardboard it was sold in, but that was easy enough to remove. Seeing Betty already burrowed in his bed, he simply threw the open robe over her form before bending down to run his fingers through her chilled hair. “You okay, babe?”

 

Jughead was easily able to spot the lie in her smile. “I’m fine, Juggie. Just wanted to see you.”

 

Lie lie lie.

 

Leaving her to stew in that for a moment, he walked back around the bed, sliding under the covers with her. Pulling the covers up to his waist, he reached for his game controller and the bowl of popcorn, sliding them both up so that either of them were within easy access. Settling back into the headboard, he restarted his game, switching the music back to the speakers and placing them on low.

 

After a few more minutes into the new level, Betty shifted beside him, pressing against his side and curling her fingers into the soft cotton of his sleeping pants. She already felt warmer, and Jughead felt satisfied knowing that she was at least physically comfortable now.

 

Zoning out from his game, he began to wonder what would drive Betty to leave her home in the middle of the night, walk thirteen blocks, and scale a two story house just to climb into bed with him.

 

While he wasn’t exactly in the mood to play around, he would do anything Betty needed . . . but this was Betty Cooper. She didn’t exactly make twilight booty calls.

 

She’s be more of the twilight homework calls or twilight pop quiz calls kind of gal.

 

“Feeling better?” he asked.

 

“Much. Thank you for letting me in.”

 

“Well, I wasn’t going to let you just hang off my bedroom window in this weather. I’m a gentleman.”

 

Chuckling, she pinched his leg. “Smart ass.”

 

“What would you do without me?”

 

“Hmmm, good question.” Betty shifted a little further into the bed. After a few more moments, her fingers tightened near him. “It was just a bad night at home, is all. I needed to get away from . . . everything.”

 

Betty’s picture perfect parents.

 

Jughead’s heart clenched at the exhaustion underlying her voice.

 

“It just, it just feels safer here.”

 

Blinking, Jughead looked down at her, uncomfortable with her statement. “Do you feel like you are in danger at home?”

 

She shook her head, temple against his side. “Not that kind of danger. I just always have to be on my guard there. You know how my parents are. They are like sharks in bloody waters. They sniff out weakness and just dig into it. Just need to relax a bit in a place that isn’t school or Pop’s.”

 

“What’s their focus this time?”

 

“I don’t really want to talk about it right now, Jughead. I just want to enjoy an impromptu sleepover with my boyfriend for some harmless video games and cuddling.”

 

“I think I can deliver on that,” Jughead ran a comforting hand against her head before settling back into his game. It was a little harder to get into the zone, unable to help himself as he kept a portion of his attention on his girlfriend. 

 

Betty seemed content to lay quietly beside him, eyes trained on the television screen while sneaking nibbles of popcorn. He bet every lunch for the rest of the week, that she wasn’t absorbing anything from the video game. 

 

If his girlfriend had any faults, she tended to suffer in silence, letting herself mellow in a negative state before reluctantly accepting the support of her friends.

 

She was such a strong and independent woman . . . yet it also lent to be her biggest weakness.

 

His heart ached for her.

 

Betty’s family situation was no secret. While the Coopers were a well regarded family in the community, they were also known to be strict perfectionists. They were the first to volunteer at charities, help any community person or business in need. They were a beacon of light when situations got tough.

 

And while their support seemed to radiate to every corner of the town, it seemed to evade their children.

 

The three Cooper children seemed to strain under the pressure placed upon them by both their parents and Riverdale as a whole. They were expected to be well adjusted and successful. As smart and picture-perfect as their parents.

 

Not a single person was surprised to see the cracks that formed due to this insurmountable pressure. Without the guidance and support from their parents, they only had each other and their friends growing up . . . and Jughead knew from personal experience that Betty’s brother and sister weren’t worth relying on. The second Chic turned eighteen, he was packed and out the door, eager to escape the oppressive household, abandoning his sisters without a second thought.

 

Betty was heartbroken when she watched his taillights disappear, essentially never to be seen again. The siblings had never been particularly close. The years between them had been too great. But they at least had the joint experience of knowing the tyranny of their parents.

 

They weren’t alone.

 

Polly seemed to withdraw from the family completely. Sneaking from the home and taking every opportunity to stay with friends or ride around with strange boys in their cars. Her rebellion earned the scorn of the Cooper parentals.

 

All of this inadvertently resulted in the full force of their focus to be directed on Betty. Betty Cooper, who, despite her exhaustion and unhappiness, still tried her best to meet the high expectations of her parents. She was a do-gooder. She thrived on meeting expectations and making people happy . . . whether they deserved it or not.

 

Jughead, a less honorable person compared to his girlfriend, hated all of them for it.

 

He hated them.

 

And hated the quiet way that Betty allowed herself to suffer in it.

 

If Betty was guilty of her desire to make others happy, then he was just as guilty of wanting the same for her. Jughead wouldn’t claim to have a hero complex, but for Betty? He would stand up against every villain in her life if he could. Betty Cooper was far from a damsel in distress, and if he didn’t already know for a fact that she wouldn’t appreciate any form of “saving” from anyone, he was sure he would have done something drastic by now.

 

There were nights when he fantasized marching up to the Cooper home, pounding on their door and just getting into their perfectly made-up faces. He wanted them pull their heads out of their asses. Ask them if the opinions of the town meant more than the wellbeing of their own children. Challenge them, make them think about what kind of parents they really were . . . they realized how lucky they were to have someone like Betty as their daughter.

 

Did they even love her?

 

Could they comprehend the depth of his love for their daughter?

 

Just thinking about a hypothetical confrontation brought a hint of pain to the back of his eyeballs, and Jughead closed his eyes against the oncoming migraine. He was only dating Betty and her family drove him nuts. He couldn’t even imagine calling them family and still managing to function on a daily basis.

 

He didn’t know how Betty did it.

 

Hearing the smallest of snores, Jughead look down to see Betty completely out, fingers curled under her chin, pressed tightly against his side. The soft shadows of his bedroom highlighted the dark smears under her eyes. Trouble sleeping.

 

It was happening more often with each passing month.

 

Graduation seemed to be the light at the end of the tunnel, with Jughead and his family and their friends serving as the safe haven she needed to make it to the end.

 

With a sigh, Jughead made quick work of shutting down the game, turning off the television monitor, and moving the bowl of popcorn to the bedside table. Each move was slow and careful, making an effort not to wake his girlfriend up.

 

He switched off the bedside lamp before shifting under the covers, making sure that it covered Betty up to her chin. A soft touch to her cheek confirmed that she was back to being comfortably warm. Leaning forward, he dropped a soft kiss to her temple before pulling her closer. She shifted with him in sleep, leaning further into his space until her head was comfortably nestled on his shoulder, legs intertwined.

 

This was Betty’s war. 

 

She called the shots, and there were some battles she won, and some she lost.

 

There was very little Jughead could do, but this, this he could manage. Tactical retreats can lead to victories, after all.

 

And Jughead promised to be there when Betty rose from this time in her life, victorious and free.

 

Bittersweet success awaited them.

**Author's Note:**

> Could be considered a weird hodgepodge of a Riverdale verse fic and a Playlist Amour fic if you squint (of course, you do not have to read that to enjoy this). Betty seeks comfort from her boyfriend after dealing with another argument with her parents. This was a bit odd to write because Betty’s family is portrayed so differently in the two canons. Comic-verse Betty has a great family dynamic . . . and the Riverdale-verse is anything but idyllic. Still, I wanted the opportunity to explore this in a way that I couldn’t in Playlist Amour. Title of the fic was pulled from Troye Sivan’s “Plum.” I don’t think I’ll ever NOT associate these two with a song when I write! XP


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